Floral water tube holder

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus is included for retaining a grouping of floral water tubes in a vertical level manner. The retaining mechanism comprises a thin semi-rigid foam sheet with a plurality (e.g. twelve) holes for retaining the floral water tubes. The individual foam sheets can come in large collections of sheets or rolls and may be individually separated (perforations) into sections of twelve. The foam sheets are loaded with floral water tubes and then filled together as a group. The tube covers are added and then the foam sheets with filled tubes are stacked together. The twelve tube sections may also be interconnected by male/female geometric shapes located on each end/side.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of floral accessories. More specifically, the present invention is related to retention systems for floral water tubes.

2. Discussion of Prior Art

Florist shops are centers for floral arrangements such as roses, carnations, etc. When a customer orders a dozen roses or other flowers, the florist will individually select each flower, cut them to size (stems) for either a box or wrapped bouquet, and place a water tube on the end of each stem to keep them fresh for a longer period of time. In addition, on very busy flower-giving occasions, e.g. Valentine's Day, the florist will prepare in advance a very large number of orders in boxed or wrapped arrangements, all of which must be tubed.

Prior art methods of filling water tubes are very labor intensive, inefficient, and incur an inordinate amount of spillage on florist or work area. Tubes are sold loose in box of 1,000. Each tube is typically individually filled by hand and placed in a bucket randomly or some other container which must be located and generally is empty (because water may leak/spill from the tubes), so customers must wait while florists find and fill the tubes (customer aggravation factor). In addition, the filler must count out and fill the tubes in groups of twelve, half-dozen, or other quantities. Labor, storage space, mess, inventory, location, and handling issues (e.g. breakage) make the process of providing large numbers of filled tubes for very busy flower giving occasions difficult, if not impossible, and having prefilled tubes for everyday use unlikely.

What is needed is a more efficient and convenient method and apparatus to handle floral water tubes.

Whatever the precise merits, features, and advantages of the prior art, none of it achieves or fulfills the purposes of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention includes a method and apparatus for retaining a grouping of floral water tubes in a vertical level manner. The retaining mechanism comprises a thin semi-rigid foam sheet with a plurality of holes for retaining the floral water tubes. The foam sheets can come in large sheets or rolls and may be individually separated (perforations) into sections of twelve. The foam sheets are loaded with floral water tubes and then filled together as a group either under a faucet or dunked in a large container. Several foam sheets can be interconnected for filling. The tube covers are added and then the foam sheets with filled tubes are stacked together and/or interconnected by male/female geometric shapes located on each end/side and placed in cooler ready for use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a dimensional view of the present invention foam sheet and floral water tube.

FIG. 2 illustrates the foam sheet of FIG. 1 fully loaded with twelve floral water tubes.

FIG. 3 illustrates two of the fully loaded foam sheets of FIG. 1 in a stacking arrangement.

FIG. 4 illustrates two of the fully loaded foam sheets of FIG. 1 in an interlocked coplanar arrangement.

FIG. 5 illustrates a dimensional view of the present invention end-piece foam sheet with one end comprising interlocking geometric shapes.

FIG. 6 illustrates a plurality of sheets before separation at perforations.

FIG. 7 illustrates a cut-away view of a box of dozen roses with present invention foam sheet used to hold all twelve roses and/or other greens and fillers within filled floral water tubes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While this invention is illustrated and described in a preferred embodiment, the device may be produced in many different configurations, forms and materials. There is depicted in the drawings, and will herein be described in detail, a preferred embodiment of the invention, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and the associated functional specifications for its construction and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. Those skilled in the art will envision many other possible variations within the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a dimensional view 100 of the present invention foam sheet 102 and floral water tube 110. The foam sheet 102 comprises a thin (e.g. ¼ inch) sheet of semi-rigid or rigid foam. The foam sheet must be strong enough (e.g. compressed dense foam) to hold twelve filled floral water tubes in a level arrangement. In addition, it should be lightweight, waterproof, and be compressive around the circumference of each hole 108 to securely retain each floral water tube. While semi-rigid foam is the preferred material, functionally equivalent plastics or other materials are deemed within the scope of the present invention.

The semi-rigid foam sheet should be large enough to hold a plurality of filled floral water tubes 110 (and caps 112), preferably twelve (a dozen). While the preferred embodiment is a rectangular shape (grid), other shapes are deemed within the scope of the present invention. One or both ends of each sheet are cutout with mating geometric shapes 104 and 106 such that two or more sheets can be connected together as a group. While not shown, additional geometric mating shapes can be added on any side for connecting to additional sheets. The floral water tube receiving holes 108 should be slightly smaller than the external diameter of the floral water tubes 110 to be retained in a compressive friction fit. The holes 108 can be punched or cutout.

FIG. 2 illustrates the foam sheet of FIG. 1 fully loaded with twelve floral water tubes 200. In practice, a florist would place a plurality of floral water tubes in the semi-rigid foam holes and then fill much like filling an ice tray (or dip in water filled bucket). The user would than add the caps to floral water tubes. In this way, the user would have many sets ready for quick use without having to individually handle, fill, and store each tube. In a preferred embodiment, the semi-rigid foam sheets would come preloaded from the manufacturer/distributor with empty floral water tubes. In one embodiment, the preloaded sheets come with tubes only, and tube caps are added after filling (saving any cap removal step). For example, tubes come separately from caps in same box of 1,000. Alternatively, for tubes supplied with attached caps, the user could simply tear off the needed number of tubes; remove caps, fill, and then recap.

FIG. 3 illustrates two of the fully loaded foam sheets of FIG. 1 in a stacking arrangement. Because the sheets hold the floral water tubes in a level manner, multiple sheets can be stacked with floral tubes in alignment to further provide stability. These sheets (e.g. in stacked arrangement) are typically stored upright in a cooler, reducing bacteria production at the lower temperature. Additionally, an empty foam sheet can be used as a base (not shown) to receive the bottoms of the floral water tubes.

FIG. 4 illustrates two of the fully loaded foam sheets of FIG. 1 in an interlocked coplanar arrangement. Mating sections of opposing foam sheets are interlocked to form a stable and close packing arrangement. Please note that while two sheets are shown connected, any number of sheets can be interconnected and these interconnected sheets can further be stacked as in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates a dimensional view of the present invention end-piece foam sheet with one end comprising interlocking geometric shapes. Often, the sheets will be stacked within a cooler or other container and therefore an end-piece without geometric shape on at least one end is needed.

FIG. 6 illustrates a plurality of sheets before separation at perforations 602. The present invention can come in large rolls/sheets of pre-connected foam sections. The user would simply tear along the shown perforations the number of sheets to include as a single group. At a later time the grouped sheets could be further separated along existing perforations. While shown as 2×5 sheets, any number of individual sheets can be manufactured together in any shaped configuration (e.g. 12×12) without departing from the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a box of a dozen roses with present invention foam sheet used to hold all twelve roses within filled floral water tubes. A florist wanting to box a dozen flowers (e.g. roses) would select a preloaded/filled twelve tube foam sheet 200, press a rose 704 into each tube cap 112 and place sideways in the box 702. In addition, an empty “floral tube holder” could be put in the flower box in advance ready for use at a later time. These steps avoid the need to find, fill, and count the floral water tubes and corresponding flowers. It is quick, holds the flowers in an organized manner, prevents damage, and can be done in advance without loss of flower life.

The present invention has many benefits such as, but not limited to, reduction in labor costs, quick visual inventory, storage solution, quick preorder preparedness, reduced spillage and mess.

CONCLUSION

A system and method has been shown in the above embodiments for the effective implementation of a floral water tube holder. While various preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it will be understood that there is no intent to limit the invention by such disclosure, but rather, it is intended to cover all modifications and alternate constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims. For example, the present invention should not be limited by size, materials, or specific manufacturing techniques. For example, the individual sheets can be 6 hole (half dozen) or other numbered configurations. In addition, other geometric shapes, such as round, square, etc. are envisioned. 

1. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, said apparatus comprising: a geometric shaped floral water tube receiving sheet, and a plurality of floral water tube receiving holes located within said sheet.
 2. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, as per claim 1, wherein said plurality of floral water tube receiving holes is twelve.
 3. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, as per claim 1, wherein said geometric shaped floral water tube receiving sheet comprises a semi-rigid material.
 4. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, as per claim 3, wherein said semi-rigid material comprises compressed foam.
 5. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, as per claim 1, wherein said geometric shaped floral water tube receiving sheet comprises a rigid material.
 6. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, as per claim 1, wherein said plurality of floral water tube receiving holes receive said water tubes in a circumferentially compressive fit.
 7. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, as per claim 1, wherein said geometric shaped floral water tube receiving sheet further comprises geometric mating sections on one or more ends/sides of said sheet, said mating sections for interconnecting multiple floral water tube receiving sheets in a coplanar arrangement.
 8. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, as per claim 1, wherein said geometric shaped floral water tube receiving sheet is manufactured in multiple water tube receiving sheet sections connected by perforations.
 9. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, as per claim 1, wherein said multiple water tube receiving sheet sections connected by perforations are large sheets or rolls.
 10. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, as per claim 1, wherein said multiple water tube receiving sheet sections are preloaded with floral water tubes.
 11. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, said apparatus comprising: a semi-rigid floral water tube receiving sheet, a plurality of floral water tube receiving holes located within said sheet, and geometric mating sections on one or more ends/sides of said sheet.
 12. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, as per claim 11, wherein said semi-rigid material comprises compressed foam.
 13. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, as per claim 11, wherein said mating sections enable interconnecting of multiple floral water tube receiving sheets.
 14. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, as per claim 11, wherein said geometric shaped floral water tube receiving sheet is manufactured in multiple water tube receiving sheet sections connected by perforations.
 15. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, as per claim 14, wherein said multiple water tube receiving sheet sections connected by perforations are large sheets or rolls.
 16. A floral water tube retaining apparatus, as per claim 14, wherein said multiple water tube receiving sheet sections are preloaded with floral water tubes.
 17. A method of preparing floral water tubes, said method comprising: selecting a specific size floral water tube receiving sheet, said sheet preloaded with a plurality of capless floral water tubes, said tubes retained within receiving holes located within said sheet, filling the tubes with water as a group, and placing the caps on the filled tubes.
 18. A method of preparing floral water tubes, as per claim 17, wherein said floral water tube receiving sheets are vertically stacked for storage.
 19. A method of preparing floral water tubes, as per claim 17, wherein said floral water tube receiving sheets are horizontally interconnected for storage.
 20. A method of preparing floral water tubes, as per claim 18, wherein said step of horizontally interconnecting the sheets comprises pressing geometric shapes together along one or more ends/sides of said sheets. 